A BUSINESS which specialises in overseas removals has got off to a flying start as more and more people move abroad or buy second homes.

John Best and three companies formed Migrate Global earlier this year. The firm, based on the Sharston Industrial Estate, in Wythenshawe, has nine staff and is on course to post turnover of é500,000 this year.

Managing director John hopes the figure will double in the following 12 months.

He said: "There were 360,000 migrations from Britain last year and the global removals market is worth more than é3bn a year. We want to make moving from Manchester to Manhattan as easy as moving from Manchester to Middlesbrough."

John, 32, previously worked at a freight forwarding company and then ran his own international courier business, which he later sold. He has invested his own money into Migrate Global, which is backed by removal firms Roy Trevor, of Warrington, and Movers Transport, of Stockport, and freight forwarder Cardinal Maritime, of Eccles.

Fragmented

John said: "The market is very fragmented - you generally find one company will do the removal, pass it on to a freight forwarder, and a third party in the other country will deliver the consignment.

"We are providing a one-stop shop. Moving abroad is stressful and we want to help it all run smoothly. To this end, we are establishing offices in Malta, Cyprus and Tenerife this year and we are looking at Dubai, the Far East and Australasia for 2007."

Clients of Migrate Global include people moving to other European countries as well as Australasia, North America and South Africa; people retiring to Spain and Portugal or buying second homes there. John said: "We are also pursuing corporate clients - companies moving people from one office to another, overseas."